"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
...
> Dimitri wrote:
>> "Nancy Young" > wrote
>
>>> Funny, I haven't noticed that in years, now that you mention it.
>>> I used to see the cross parkers all the time, though usually
>>> towards the far part of the lot.
>>> nancy
>>
>> Plastic doors don't dent.
>
> I was thinking that.

Well, that's not true. Plastic car parts do too dent, and they abrade and
can't be buffed out. Plastic car parts can't easily be repaired like metal
so they're replaced, and they typically cost more than their metal
counterparts... it's impossible to do body work on plastic parts that can't
easily be detected, not even paint will adhere like the factory job so even
when it's a new plastic part, say a door, they still need to paint, but not
only will it not be a perfect match it won't adhere for very long because
the coefficient of expansion of the repair paint won't match that of the
body part and it can't be baked onto plastic like with metal... factory
paint application on plastic is done with state of the art cold chemical
bonded primers, unavailable to private body shops. The warmer the weather
the more readily plastic car parts will dent, in cold and freezing weather
plastic parts crack/shatter.

My tenant has one of those little late model Buicks, a G6?, last summer a
shopping cart at Lowes rolled into the rear (Lowes has pretty large and
heavy carts), the plastic bumper dented and that huge multi-function plastic
lighting lens cracked... both needed replacement, $1,400. The car is leased
(so had to be repaired) and she has $1,000 deductible for collision... that
little love tap cost her a grand. The car is black. The black paint the
body shop used on the plastic bumper is already becoming slightly chalky in
spots, because it was obviously meant to be baked onto metal... in about 3-4
years it'll look like crap... fortunately for my tenant the lease will have
expired before then, but someone else will have to suffer those
consequences. I learned quite a lot about about plastic car parts helping
her deal with that accident damage. She was put through the wringer, the
insurance adjuster didn't want to believe her about the Lowes cart because
she had no witnesses, she didn't even see it happen. I went with her to
Lowes and took pictures of how the Lowes cart lined up perfectly with the
dent and impact point on that shattered lens. After her car fiasco was over
I deleted my copy of the pictures or I would post them, I'm pretty sure she
must still have the copies I sent her. When she arrived home after the
accident the first thing I did was take pictures, she doesn't own a camera.
I told her to get one, even the cheapest throw-away and leave it in her car
but I'll bet she didn't.

Didja know that John Deere tractors and other agri vehicles are now made
with all plastic body parts... of course they do that because plastic is far
less expensive to manufacture, but the selling gimmick is they don't rust,
well that's true, but when hit they shatter and can't be repaired like rust.
Now tractors don't normally get out in traffic so collisions are rare
(certainly not with shopping carts), but kicking up stones and hard clods of
dirt is common. I don't carry collision on my tractors but I do have fire
and theft with my homeowners. All farm equipment, if used, acquires dings
and rust spots but it's very inexpensive to repair, most can be done
oneself... it's pretty easy to reach the underside of a tractor body, it's
all exposed, so tapping out a small ding with a soft mallet is something
anyone can do in minutes. And touch up paint is readily available at any
dealer and matches perfectly because each brand of tractor comes in only one
color, year after year after year... I'm glad my Kubotas are all metal...
that was the main reason I didn't buy the John deere, I always wanted a
bright green Deere.. now I'm used to Kubota orange. Kubota also gives twice
the tractor for your dollar. Those little JD garden tractors you see lined
up at the big box hardwares aren't made by Deere, they are cheap crap that
lease the Deere name and paint.

Plastic parts dent the same as metal, when either is impacted the material
is stretched and leaves a dent... that's all a dent is, stretched material.
Metal auto body parts are more malleable than plastic so can be stretched
further before a fracture occurs, especially in colder weather. Plastic
auto body parts are only cost efficient in very low impact collisions (like
with a Spalding pink rubber ball) where the material can absorb the impact
and pop back before it's stretched beyond its point of no return. But a
shopping cart is no Spalding, a shopping cart is more like a baseball, it
will definitely dent a plastic car door the same as it will a metal car
door.

Fiberglass body parts can be repaired, but not plastic.


I am reasonably careful not to park
> too close to cars, but you know how that goes. Still,
> my car is 4 years old and pretty much pristine as far as dings go. Years
> ago you had no chance of that.
>
> I did feel bad for the guy who would park his nice sports
> car all the way out in the lot to keep away from other cars
> and someone would make a point of parking their beater
> car right next to him. Two cars in the middle of nowhere.
> nancy